I was amazed to read that nearly 5,500 people died on the job in 2007. What was perhaps even more amazing is that that number is down 6% from the previous year. Meanwhile, murders on the job increased by 13%, bringing the total to 610. This is another remarkable figure posted in an article on Inc.com

If you pattern this out, based on a full 52 week year, 150-odd people are dying weekly from fatal work accidents. And eleven-plus people are being murdered every week while on the job. Gives new meaning tot he term, “this is your last day at work.” It also demonstrates there are either a lot of clumsy people out there or the safety standards at different industries are sub-par. Probably is a combination of both.

As for all the murders, there have to be a lot of angry folk around the water cooler. Some, obviously are more angry than others. Or less sane. Perhaps it’s the economy, too many lousy TV shows, domestic disputes. It is tough to say, really.

I do know this. When we run our background checks we look for behavior patterns. While no one can easily discern clumsy, the combined criminal search, credit report and, surprisingly, Motor Vehicle Records Search, will often reveal behavior patterns indicating substance issues and domestic strife. If this kind of behavior does show up, then you may want to reconsider the candidate rather than endanger your work force.

Labor Day was first celebrated in New York, in 1882. It became a nationally recognized holiday in 1894.

There have been a lot of changes since then. While the quality of life has improved tremendously, we often find ourselves working harder, well beyond the 40 hour work week that everyone was once striving for. Some of use find ourselves working, 70, 80, even 100 hours a week.

We work weekends, come in early and often work late into the night. Although we are allotted weeks of vacation time, many of us don’t ever take the full amount. With the changing world, and the paradigm that has become necessary, we undergo background checks and various elements of preemployment screening.

Our interview sessions are often multiple and the decision to hire or not will take much longer than it once did. We negotiate our salary, but we also negotiate our bonuses and added perks. We once had relative job security, but now we are concerned with downsizing, outsourcing and cost cutting layoffs.

It’s a different world, for sure. But we still have Labor Day and Labor Day Weekend. So enjoy it with friends and with family. Be happy and, above all, be safe. No statistics on the highway toll.

Yahoo reported yesterday that two defense contractors are accused of human trafficking. The Yahoo Article says that KBR.Inc and a Jordanian sub-contractor were transporting 12 Nepali men against their will to Iraq when the men were killed in an attack.

Of course, the lawsuit hasn’t gone to trial and is still in its early stages. If it is true, then this kind of behavior should never be tolerated in the modern world. In fact, it should have never been tolerated at all. Perhaps there is irony that the lawsuit was filed just before our Labor Day Weekend.

There is a man in Israel who says he has at least part of the solution to global warning. According to Haaretz, the Israeli English language newspaper, Max Nadel, has a simple means of creating alternative energy. You would think a guy like this would be working for one of the larger conglomerates or at least a cutting edge alternative energy group. Think again.

Max doesn’t have a job. Max can barely afford a small room in a run down apartment building in downtown Tel Aviv. So for the time being, anyway, this leaves Max out of any presentations of his findings to science groups at the United Nations or anywhere else.

Max calls him premise the Totem system. This is short of the Total Energy Modulation Model. (see diagram) Max’s machine produces energy through steam, heat produced by solar cells, and the colling liquid produced in biogas power plants. Max claims the system could be made even more efficient by using wind, thermal, and energy from the rivers or seas.

I don’t know if it works. Who does? Maybe Max does. But I am reminded of all the great inventions that were discovered by accident or through the miracle of simplicity. From Ben Franklin to Charles Goodyear, the list goes on an on about accidental and simple inventions that have changed the planet.

Maybe Max can change the planet. Maybe Max deserves a job, or funding…something. I’m sure Max is a ready candidate for preemployment screening and the usual host of background checks. I’m sure Max could use a little money so he could show his system to the world. In this world of mega-mergers and complex approaches to our energy needs, maybe Max has one of the answers. Good luck to him.